The top V licensed music tracks from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Editorial by Ravi Singh, Posted on April 1, 2025
Whoa, has it really been 10 years since the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain? Not until September. But with the earlier release Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes let’s just say it is for the sake of this article, even though we’re about to talk about something Ground Zeroes didn’t really have: a shit ton of licensed tracks to help define the setting. Here’s To You? Sit the fuck back down with your single track that plays during one cutscene. We already had The Carpenter’s Sing to express the boomer optimism that was only beginning to wade during the 1970s in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. But as the years went by that optimism turned into the realization that the generation as a whole “Blew it, man.”
Which brings us to the 1980s. There’s a lot of scoffing over this decade, one where Ronald Reagan proposed “Let’s Make America Great Again” with a big Hollywood smile, 1950s nostalgia kicked in, and some of the boomers sold out over the accessibility of wealth and flexed with consumerism. Hippies became yuppies. Coca-Cola became New Coke, which felt like Dixie fell apart yet again, so Coca-Cola Classic became a new thing despite being the old thing. Bob Dylan going electric? Old news, who gives a fuck? Nobody.
Of course there’s a lot more nuance than that. And while there is a complaint about the 80s feeling more “plastic” than previous decades, or even the 90s afterwards, there is a whole lot of great art that came out during this time period. You can’t tell me something like To Live And Die In LA, which is undeniably 80s as fuck, is plastic. There’s a reason why Grand Theft Auto: Vice City remains a cult classic with its setting. Did anyone else find themselves running over randoms while blasting (I Just) Died in Your Arms by Cutting Crew?
MGSV as a whole, but The Phantom Pain in particular, thematically runs counter to Peace Walker and the 1980s setting helps seal the deal, with those cassette tapes scattered throughout Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region adding a layer of believably. Here are, what I believe, to be the top 5 tracks. You can enjoy listening to them with this Spotify playlist we made along with a few bonus tracks you may remember bumping on the iDroid.
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
No, Joy Division isn’t the name of some clothing label Kojima and that douchebag making your coffee are really into. It’s a shop in Snatcher, though most of us know it as Pluto’s Cavern as localizers were probably concerned that the real Joy Division could sue. The real ones being these lads with this track that comes off as an inverse to 1970s Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennelle, which itself would have worked great for Peace Walker as we previously joked here, so naturally Joy Division’s beloved single fits in quite well for MGSV with its sad tone. Joy Division ended in the 1980s to become New Order after lead singer Ian Curtis hung himself two months after recording Love Will Tear Us Apart which maybe makes it a little more haunting, I dunno.
Spandau Ballet – True
“Take your seaside arms and write the next line…” almost feels like something Venom Snake would say on Mother Base. But it turns out it’s just inspired from Lolita.
But that’s besides the point. There’s a lot going on with this track, including several references to soul, the music genre that dominated decades prior but was left alone in favor of rock. It’s a bittersweet take on loss. Listening to this track in between that waning period between finishing Mission 31 and Mission 46 where after you kill Skullface you don’t understand what the fuck you’re doing anymore besides going through the motions really stings. Especially with “I know this much is true” delivered with emotion repeatedly throughout the outro. It’s like a cocaine comedown in music form, which I guess is like how Venom felt after pouring ashes overboard in that one cutscene. Fuck. What did he say again? “I won’t take your shining arms at the next seaside…”? Ugh it’s going to bother me now. Oh well.
Midge Ure – The Man Who Sold The World
Holy shit. When the first notes hit you know you’re in for it. I admit I at first wondered if this was a remix of David Bowie’s original, which helps with the whole theme of phantoms that later comes to fruition with the grand reveal in Mission 46 as we explained here. Or maybe they just couldn’t afford the license for the original. They did originally want to open the game with Bowie’s Diamond Dogs after all.
Fun fact, if you want to piss people off, tell them you think it’s super cool of Bowie and Ure to cover Nirvana songs.
Death In June – Death of the West
The cultural decline and disillusionment with the modern world this song expresses really fits in with the world Venom Snake is forced to live in. Similar to the Metal Gear series as a whole, a lot of Death In June’s work uses military imagery and sounds to deal with the aftermath of war and the destruction that comes with it, rather than glorifying conflict itself. The lyrics evoke a sense of melancholy and loss. And The Phantom Pain is all about loss. Minor complaint, but the sarcastic “Free Coca-Cola For You” line is a miss here given that MSF in Peace Walker was giving away free Mountain Dew to the crew. A shame this is likely the most missed tape in the game, as it’s hidden beneath the leaves in Mother Base.
Duran Duran – Invisible
C’mon now. You didn’t think we’d not include this one, did you? A bit overplayed after The Phantom Pain’s release, but this hit from 80s legends Duran Duran has become the iconic track for everything MGSV. As it should—being invisible summarizes everything haunting about MGSV. From the medic losing his individuality to soldiers being treated as a statistic when the vocal chord parasites take over. Fuck, Quiet’s inability to speak makes her invisible as well. So is Kingdom of the Flies, being canned as DLC and instead relegated to a MP4 file on a bonus disc. This track defines MGSV and only the haters insist it doesn’t, usually bringing up the fact that the song came out after 1984 which doesn’t matter because The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love, also included in MGSV, was released in 1992 (nearly a decade after 1984).
Honorable mention: Nine Inch Nails – Head Like A Hole
We can clown on the Never Be Game Over folks all we want. And we should now more than ever. But to be fair, their hunt for the giant white sperm whale may have uncovered all kinds of cut content from the game. From a (messy) playable Battle Gear to a fucked up all-grown-up Chico and also, this track from Nine Inch Nails. It’s certainly fitting, given the hole inside of Venom’s head that turns him into a phantom serving a purpose that leads him to gets what he deserves when he faces Solid Snake in Outer Heaven.
Was it cut because Kojima had to cull down the number of licensed songs in the final game? Because Konami got offended by the “God money” lines? Because whoever owns the rights didn’t want to give Kojima the rights? Doubt Trent Reznor took issue, given the guy was behind the soundtrack for Quake and was seemingly happy to be part of Kojima’s collection of pictures with celebrities (Atticus Ross looks a little concerned though).